The Australian Open will be a big test for Nadal

Just 13 days into the New Year, the first grand slam of the tennis season gets underway in Melbourne in what is expected to be scorching temperatures. And before we head into our breakdown of the draws, let’s take a quick look at some of the results coming in from the last set of warm-up events across Australia. The Week Gone By – In Sydney, Juan Martin del Potro won his 18th career singles title, beating defending champion Bernard Tomic in straight sets and in Auckland, American John Isner won his 8th career singles title, beating 30 year old Yen-Hsun Lu, in his first ATP final, 7-6(4), 7-6(7). On the women’s tour, grass-court specialist Tsvetana Pironkova surprised many, including herself, by winning 8 matches (coming through qualifying and including wins over three top 10 players - Kvitova, Errani and Kerber) to win the Sydney title. The 18-year-old Madison Keys served up notice for the 2014 season as she reached her biggest semi-final on tour, while it was a disappointing week for best friends Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki, both losing in the second round. And 20-year-old Spaniard Garbine Muguruza was another first-time winner on the WTA Tour, beating Czech vet Klara Zakaplova to win the Hobart International. Aussie no. 1 Sam Stosur won 3 matches (2 of them in third set tie-breaks) to end her losing streak at home but a loss to Zakaplova in the semis is hardly the perfect warm-up for your home slam, especially since they meet again in the very first round in Melbourne. On the Indian side, the Indo-Pak Express gathered steam as Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi reached the finals in Sydney in just their second tournament back together but lost to Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic. Elsewhere it was a disappointing week as Leander Paes/ Radek Stepanek and Sania Mirza/ Cara Black lost early in Sydney. On the singles side, Yuki Bhambri crashed out in the first round of qualifying for Melbourne while 20 year old Sowjanya Bavisetti, ranked no. 699 in the world, won the ITF $10K event in Aurangabad, her second career singles title. The Men’s Draw Roger Federer had this to say about the draw in Melbourne.”A draw is a draw. You guys debate it; I play in it. That’s basically it.” So let’s do just that! The one match everyone is looking forward to is the Rafael Nadal vs. Tomic clash on Tuesday night. The 21-year-old Tomic has reached atleast the third round here the last three years in a row. And while he is in good form, having just reached the Sydney finals, it would be a major shock if he were to upset Nadal, who returns to Melbourne after missing last year due to injury. [caption id=“attachment_1336285” align=“alignleft” width=“3000”] Rafael Nadal has a tough draw. Getty Images[/caption] Nadal’s path ahead could run into the big-serving American Jack Sock in the second round, French monsieur Gael Monfils in the third, and 32-year-old Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth. Hewitt is playing in his 18th consecutive Australian Open and comes into the tournament fully fit after ages and on the back of a title in Brisbane, where he beat Federer in the finals. Sydney winner del Potro, Canada’s Milos Roanic and Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov (a.k.a. Mr. Sharapova) are on the other side of this quarter. Nadal’s projected semi-final opponent could come from fourth seed Andy Murray or sixth seed Federer. Murray, the returning finalist, has played only two matches since back surgery in September and should have a relatively easy path into the second week until he runs into Auckland champ Isner in round four. Federer, playing with a bigger racket, also has a danger-free path until the fourth round where he is scheduled to meet Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. With many of the other contenders in the other half, defending champion Novak Djokovic’s chances of a fifth title just got brighter. The Serb would need to be wary of mercurial Ernests Gulbis in the fourth round and Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarters. In the other section of this half, no. 3 David Ferrer is the highest seed. But given his recent form, we could see a surprise semi-finalist emerge from this section. Seventh seed Tomas Berdych and Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz also reside in this quarter. The Women’s Draw There’s no such thing as a tough draw when it comes to Serena Williams. But let’s scan through for theoretical perspective anyway. Serena opens up against a 17 year old Australian – who is touted as one of the future stars of the game. Ashleigh Barty is already a three-time grand slam finalist in doubles and whose game has been likened to Martina Hingis (who is, by the way, coaching German Sabine Lisicki for this fortnight). An upset would be too far-fetched right now but the match should give Barty a good account of what she needs to improve to succeed on the women’s tour. Serena has former world no. 1 and last week’s Auckland winner Ana Ivanovic in round four and the Italians Sara Errani or Roberta Vinci in the quarters. There’s a good chance for one of the next-gen girls to come through here. 20 year old Laura Robson, 19 year old Eugenie Bouchard and 18 year old Madison Keys are all in Errani’s quarter. Serena’s projected semi-final opponent could be no. 4 seed Li Na, a two-time finalist, or no. 6 seed Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champ. Both Li Na and Kvitova have the game and the muscle to battle Serena but do they have the fight in them, is another question. There’s more of the young brigade on display in this section. 16 year old Ana Konjuh qualified and meets Li Na in the first round while fellow 16 year old Belinda Bencic also came through qualifying and meets 43 year old Kimiko Date-Krumm. Between Konjuh and Bencic, the two won all the four junior slams on the women’s side in 2013. Another marquee first round match sees former world no. 1 Venus Williams take on 22nd seed Ekaterina Makarova, a quarter-finalist here the last two years in a row. Serena’s closest challenger, Victoria Azarenka, heads the other half of the draw. The two-time defending champion could meet last year’s semi-finalist Sloane Stephens in the fourth round. Agniezka Radwanska, a sight for sore eyes in an era of ball bashers, or the newly engaged Caroline Wozniacki could meet Azarenka in the quarters. World no. 3 Maria Sharapova, back from a shoulder injury, could meet Azarenka in the other semi-final. The Russian faces the dangerous American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the opening round and has eighth seed Jelena Jankovic or 11th seed Simona Halep, a six-time titlist in 2013, in her quarter. Indians in the fray - Somdev Devvarman is the only Indian in the singles draw in Melbourne. Devvarman faces a tough challenge straight up – against 26th seeded Feliciano Lopez (first meeting between the two). As usual, Indians have a good representation in the doubles draw. On the women’s side, Sania Mirza and Cara Black are seeded no. 6. On the men’s, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek are seeded fifth, while Bopanna and Qureshi are seeded 7th. Divij Sharan, Mahesh Bhupathi and Yuki Bhambri are also in the doubles draw, with foreign partners. And after a while, India will also see some representation in the juniors – with Sumit Nagal, Simran Kaur and Snehadevi Reddy competing for silverware.